Tuesday, October 28, 2008

A wicked case of crotch rot

My charge nurse handed me a 16 year old girl who was transferred over from one of our affiliate hospitals for pelvic inflammatory disease accompanied by her boyfriend who looks just like a gangsta wanna-be would in a place where his greetings of ‘s’up muthafuckahs’ are met with disdain – like a stray puppy who’s angry at being placed in a kennel for the night. The girl herself was pleasant enough – actually she was quite sweet. I did my assessment and then set up the room for one of the residents to do a speculum exam while explaining the process to the girl. So along comes the resident and starts doing the exam. Now I know this guy a little bit and he knows that I’m new so whenever we’re working together he tries to get me to see as much as possible, which is always appreciated. Usually he explains the procedure as he’s doing it but this time he asks me to come to his side and pass him an instrument while looking at me somewhat funny. This of course makes my spidey-sense tingle and I quickly walked over to his side. When I looked at the vajayjay area I was horrified. I had never seen that much curdled cottage cheese like discharge from an area that small before! The resident took out the speculum and it was dripping with the aforementioned discharge! I can’t even begin to describe the smell. Meanwhile the girl is asking ‘what smells funky?’ That would be you honey. When we explain what we saw, she says, ‘But I’m not a slut! I’ve only been with a couple of guys! Did you put the thing in the right hole?’ What we saw shouldn’t be coming out of any hole. We were concerned about the boyfriend as well so we brought him to another room to chat with him. Turns out he was admitted a little while ago for the same problem but he had been compliant with his meds – the girl hadn’t. She ended up getting a gram of vanco for chlamydia in the ED before being admitted to gyne. Needless to say she needed a LOT of health teaching and perhaps a swift kick in the ass for thinking unprotected sex with ‘only a couple of guys’ guarantees protection from STIs!

Yes as a teenager you are a bit naive of sex, and other things. It's not that teenaged girls are dumb, teenagers in general need better resourse tools than the 15min prep talk you get in the high school PE class. And parents too should step up and talk to their kids about safe sex practices. Teenagers barely want to study for a test, think they are going to research some stuff online if they don't have it yet??

In the province that I live in, health (including sexuality) are mandatory from grade 5-10. In grade 5, you get the low down on how sexual organs work and how reproduction occurs and the topics get more complex throughout the years. When I was in grade 9 and 10, health and sexuality were tied in with high school biology as well. And it wasn't a watered down version - I remember some fairly graphic and detailed lessons on transmission, prevention and treatments. Public health nurses were also required to teach several lessons. Currently, the curriculum has expanded to include topics such as substance abuse and personal safety and injury prevention.

My (long and drawn out) point is this - there is an extensive curriculum and resources available for teens, but like you said Anon, too many teenagers are lazy to seek out the info no matter how easy it is. This goes a bit off topic but it seems that in many cases, teenagers' ignorance is also reflective of parental laziness and personal entitlement.

Not everyone does get enough sex education here. My elementary school had it for grade 7 and 8, but I was pulled out for all of grade 7's because my parents thought I was too young, and most of grade 8's as well. Grade 9 I didn't learn much in school. In grade 11 they showed us some pictures of STD's left untreated, but those who couldn't stand to watch it were free to leave. My mom gave me a talk that lasted a few hours when I was 13 (grade 8), but with all the new phrases and ideas suddenly being poured into my head and no visual aides or even anything written for me to read in more private settings, most of it went right over my head. Basically, her idea of safe sex was no sex at all. It's dirty and it's wrong. I could not have searched for anything on the internet because the only access I had to it was in the school library, and my parents living room. Reasearching anything on sex would not have been acceptable in our house. Getting caught with a condom would have gotten me hours worth of lectures about why I shouldn't be having sex at all.

So not everyone is well educated, but there's a lot that should just be common sense.

The problem here is not the fact that the girl was having sex, having sex is a very natural and normal thing to do. Yes, she is a teen, but in this day and age we need to open our eyes and understand that teens ARE GOING TO HAVE SEX! The problem is that she was not using protection. Having sex does not make you a slut, having unprotected sex simply makes you dumb. As said before there is enough informaition for these kids to get the picture that they need to use a condom...every time. They simply get caught up in the moment or think they are in "love" and that its okay. It never ever is.

Who are you to judge? Yes, this is a very disturbing situation but this isn't only restricted to teens. I know that adults get into similar, if not worse situations. As for the gynecologists and especially the person that posted this, it is disgusting that you did, and incredibly medically unethical.

Well there's no point in looking down on her. Educate these young people. Encourage them with sincerity. Since you are blessed to be one of the few people out here who know the most actual facts, take advantage of that. Im 18 and STD free, but most girls my age aren't as lucky. Maybe you dont care about the prevention (wrong feild babe), but being sarcastic and judgemental isnt going to do anything.

woow im a male and its a good thing i use condoms (trojan)pleasure u trust!but also keep my sexual partners low. just one.im also a teen but well educated about sex ed. thanks to high school health teachers! an outside represanitives.From CA1i.

As a fellow nurse, I think the way your condescendingly talking about these teens is wrong. I see it far to often. As hospital employees it is our job not to judge but to educate and care for those placed under our care. We don't know the lives and stories of everyone and it's not our job to find out, but we do know they are sick and that's all we need to know. Perhaps the " gangsta wannabe" and his girlfriend were not so lucky to grow up being taught about these things, and even though it seems like common sense, teenagers often lack that unless they are guided. So my advice as someone who is not a new nurse is...get used to seeing everything and every type of person and you better soon learn not to judge or your going to fail as a nurse. In my years of working trauma I've had patients who just killed an entire family while driving drunk, or a gang member who just shot a little kid during a drive by shooting. You think I'm allowed to judge?? Nope...they recieve the same loving care as the surviving victim in the next room over. If you can't handle that then you better pick an area of nursing such as pallative where it's harder to run into patients you can judge!! It sounds like your enthusiastic about being a nurse which is great, but work on not judging and you should be just fine!

I love the comment that say that this post is "medically unethical". Because posting completely anonymous information about diseases and personal cases, just like they have you read in medical school, is unethical right? Anyways, the issue is not education. Canadian urban cities, especially Toronto, have some of the highest mandatory standards of sexual education available. For her to be this ignorant about her own sexual health proves that not only are people my age (I'm in my very early 20s) have the mentality that they are someone else's problem. Yes, if they get an STD, who cares because modern medicine and free health care will take care of me so that I don't have to buy a condom. This mentality is what is driving some young people and older people alike to be so nonchalant to the realities of their health. We live in a society that gratifies the now and blatently tells us to seek out instant pleasure, and that worrying about the consequences is someone else's problem. I'm not preeching that this girl is the victim of societial attitudes but rather that she chooses to live out those attitudes becasue she is too lazy to think about her own health and the consequences of her actions. If she is old enough to have sex with multiple partners, her health should be in her own hands, and so should the consequences of her actions. There is no better education then the one that you are able to provide yourself. And if you are too lazy and inept to even take care of your own health, then it is a failure of your own doing, not the state or its educational system.

Safe sex is no sex. "A condom was made for protecting agenst pregnancy not agenst STDs" is what my teacher told me... Not even that is prevented sometimes. People shouldn't have sex till they are with the person that they plan on being with for the rest of their life. Sadly, not everyone thinks the same way as I do... Wouldn't life be great if people did? (Then again I'm called wierd by alot of my friends... lol)

Also... that pic is really nasty... but, um... great story...?

Just a little more info, I'm a teenage girl aswell, and I'm not "dumb." Great job thinking we all are the same, Mofo. >_> You should really work on your people skills...

ok so u say ur not a slut well honey having sex with a COUPLE OF GUYS makes u a SLUT ok im sorry to be so honest but i had too we get what we get because we look for it so thats why u got the disease...hope u get well soon

YOUR sooo stupid. having sex witha couple guys does not make us a slut. having sex with SEVERAL guys maybe yes.but what about the f..king guys. they prolly skrew 5x more people than girls do

and ur dumb this girl (although niiave ) was willing to take the medss. the GUY was the one who didnt take the medication after the first time he was diagnosed and knowingly had unprotected sex with this girl even though he knew she would be infected. to me hes the discusting one..People get stis is not uncommon

she said she had sex with a few guys. she didnt say they were a few randoms.

First of all yall I though you all were doctors. What happened to patient confidentiality? Being professional? Also you are suppose to be there to help not judge. Not all teenage girls are "ignorant" like ya'll think. Some maybe but not all. Just like adults they some of them do the same thing.. HA actually most do worse then this girl. I understand this is your opinion and you have the right to speak your mind but you shouldn't judge group just because some, okay half, of them are that way that would be like saying all white people are stuck up or all blacks are niggers! You would be writting that would you? NO! Because it would be offensive and racist just like this is, exspecially to me seeing as how I am only 16.

It's reasons like this why most teenage girl don't come to ya'll to talk. ya'll are to critical and are always making assumptions. They don't feel cofortable coming to ya'll and that is when stuff like this happens becuase they have no one to talk to before they have sex and they deffinatly don't to come after because of the way ya'll act. Then come when they have to because they know if they don't something will seriously go wrong with them, and this is how you treat them. WHEN IT IS YOUR FAULT! Oh, and if you have a prolem with this feel free to e-mail me. Lilqt1389@yahoo.com

I don't think patient confidentiality is an issue here, they haven't exactly published a name and address have they?!

and my take on this is she's not a slut, or dumb, she's just 16. it happens. and what should be done next is that she needs to understand why this has happened, and so why it is important to a) get them both treated (and properly) and b) use protection in the future. at least she's trying to do something about it, there's lots out there that don't.

The individual who posted this, should not even remotely be in the medical field. To lack this amount of respect towards a patient is appalling. No wonder most people are uncomfortable and too shy to seek help with any condition or problem revolving around our privates. You are the perfect example of why people fail to care for themselves with such issues.

You look down upon these two teens due to their supposed lack of class and whatnot, yet you seem to have quite a bit less. Perhaps get another career, one that doesnt require a conscience, kindness and respect. Get over yourself.

o yeh flipping blame the teenagers..you were all once one..we are not stupid, dumb or lazy! just embarressed and scared!! if its such an issue then do something about it yourselves instead of sitting on here with no lives! and look IM A TEENAGER.. RESEARCHING AN STD..theres gotta be one in a million tho aye! self centered idiots!

I can't believe she would say that she wasn't a slut. Being a slut has nothing to do with getting an STI or STD.I am 19. I've slept with 2 guys in my life. Both of whom I was with for over a year. I am engaged to one atm. I made them use condoms for the longest time. I have not contracted anything.Needless to say, I have had yearly and sometime bi-yearly paps since I turned 15. The women in my family have had a medical history of polyps growing in the vajayjay. (I thought it was cool that you used that word, cuz that's what I say.) I haven't yet though. No STD's or STI's, no pregnancies, and no polyps. I thank God everyday.

I don't think that the fact she had sex with a few people is the problem i mean before you settle down with the right one you could of had 3 or 4 serious relationships, technically you've had sex with a few people. It's just she's so very young. At that age many young girls date guys that are older, the guys pretends to protect them and show them the world and the girl gets swept away with it all. She obviously had trust in this guy and i honestly think that we should all be very upset with him. She is still a baby and im sure she'll learn from her mistakes. Even if she doesn't and she is one of those girls you see in skimpy clothes having sex with anyone, what does it have to do with all of us. You can't save everyone and getting in a tizzy and argueing with strangers on a blog isn't going to solve the many issues in this world. People need to mind their own bussiness and worry about their own sexual health and that of the people they know and care about. Who knows one of you lot could claim to have sex with 1 or 2 people and still have an undetected STI, so don't judge. oh and don;'t be mad at the person who posted this blog, if you read it properly it said these pictures and stories have been changed so that they aren't that of the patients. i doubt very much that during the treatment the other doctor said oh yes go ahead and take a picture of this to put on your blog. do you know of a doctor that takes a picture of your body parts in exams???

actually the doctors can take pictures. When you go to the e.r they make you sign a form that it is ok to take pictures, video ect.for whatever legitament reasons they may have, although they usually never do.

I'm in that age between the ripe teenage years and the actual responsible adult years. I've read all these posts and have seen the many sides to the conversation, but I was a little put out about some peoples comments.

First off, some people automatically blame the sex education topic. I gladly got all the knowledge I needed from my parents, schools, teachers, etc. and so did most of my classmates -- and yet they still ended up using little to no protection. The problem in this blog isn't a confidentiality agreement or anything, it's just there to announce (in the blogger's own words) that there are more and more teens out there with these problems.

Some people just suffer from a lack of common sense, others are totally in the dark about these topics, but not many. A lot of people my age just 'knew' that something like this would never happen to them. We hear about it and know the consequences of not using a condom or other precautions, but it's like hearing about someone getting raped... a lot of girls think, 'that's not going to happen to me.' I know that because I used to be one of them. You think you can risk it, until you happen to stumble upon a blog with pictures like this and suddenly you know that it can happen to anyone that's not conscious about their own sexual acts.

It even implies that the couple knew about it, but the girl 'hadn't been compliant with her meds'. That's nothing to blame on lack of education -- that's an issue of 'if you don't take your medicine, you're not going to get better.'

With all the media and talk about these diseases and the prevention, not to mention all the condom commercials that raid the television, it's hardly intelligent to automatically state 'lack of knowledge' as the key cause of this. That's kind of like blaming someone else for your actions and your responsibility.

I know in this situation its the young womans fault but what about those of us whom was engaged for 5 years. the person we are with starts using drugs tries to kill us rapes us and we leave him to find out we have 5 stds and we didnt even know he was cheating on us? how do u deal with somin like this ithas ruined my life to know the above story i just typed is me i loved him and he passd this to me and i feel so dirty. only person i had ever slept with. and when ur loyal to one person 5 years and the marriage date is set and then he rapes u there is no protection.

first of all, do you blame teenagers for not coming to see doctors and nurses after theyve read ths article becuase tbh i wouldnt either, you feel like your just going to get judged not helped. not all teenagers are dumb just swept away in tht moment of madness if your with a older guy, as the older guy is most likely more experienced then they should be more responsible and use protection. you feel daft telling them to wait and put on a condom cause you think there going to just laugh at you and assure you theres nothing to worry about. i speak from personal experience witha older person.

not all teenagers can be DUMB if they are spending their time researching STI'S on this blog so you reli do need to sort your opinions out and stop judging people by their looks and help them as your a nurse they comw to you for hep not to be judged!!!

It is for emergency room doctors/nurses like you that i lost my baby because of.All of them had an attitude with me they sent me home the first night, i am.. was 3 months pregnant bleeding worse than a normal period and having clots as big as a golf ball coming out. They sent me home! Then tell me there is nothing they can do for me i was stupid for coming up there. Until the head doctor comes in gives me a sonogram and tells me my baby is dead. Go back to school but first please take a class to learn how to treat people . Idk what they teach in nursing school but if they teach all of you to act like this..

You call yourself a nurse and your talking like this? You seem highly uneducated and need to understand the responsibilities of a nurse or anyone who works with cases such as this. You are by far the worst nurse I have ever come across!

I think that criticizing her education and blaming all E.R. nurses for the death of a baby (and you all are giving her sh*t for making generalizations?! you have got to be kidding me!) is completely besides the point. this is a RANT. if you don't appreciate what nurses really think, don't read it. no one is forcing you to agree with her. The amount of stupidity nurses see on a regular basis (ESPECIALLY E.R. nurses) is astounding and to believe that each and every nurse can look at each and every patient in each and every context in a completely non-judgemental way is absolutely, 100% unrealistic. Nursing will test your faith in humanity and it will make you realize that people are stupider than you could ever imagine. If you left a commenting judging the author of this blog for being judgemental then you need to realize the absolute hypocrisy of what you wrote.

I love how half the flamers didn't notice that the photo is from Wikipedia.

They're right that sex education is worthless-nonexistent in a lot of places... However, you made it sound like the girl had already been prescribed antibiotics the same time her gangsta was, and wasn't taking them. FAIL.

About Me

Obvious Disclaimer

I like my job. I do not want to lose it for violating patient confidentiality. I have a fairly active imagination so altering identifying details is something I enjoy. Everything here is altered to protect patient confidentiality. If you think that a story is referring to you, it’s not. If you think a picture is from your medical exam, it’s not.